“Football is not where we want it to be just yet and we’ve got to work on that. We made some progress and climbed up the hill a little bit and we’re doing some good things in a really tough league but we’ve found that we’ve stubbed our toes a little bit. We’ve got to figure that out and we’ll get that figured out.”

“That is something pending the direction they see me going. That is something I can’t rule out if they want to use me in that kind of role. It is something I would definitely embrace. For the time being, I am just doing the things they ask me to do and if and when the opportunity presents itself, I will take it.”

What word is there to spread?

Until UK Football does something besides run their freakin’ mouths, there is nothing to talk about. Absolutely nothing.

Do something! Anything besides more losing.

Then you can talk. Until then, put your nose to the grindstone and shut the fuck up!

I’m tired of hearing all of the whining. Get the word out. UK Fans should support perennial losing. UK fans should be more supportive, UK Football can’t help itself. UK Football can’t help that it sucks. Joker is powerless.

Mitch Barnhart has come out today with the statement that Joker Phillips will be “given the time to turn the program around.”

He’s being given next year to turn things around. By the time The Joke is done, UK Football will be decimated.

Mr. Barnhart should have brought the Grim Reaper with him to the Press Conference. This announcements is tantamount to a death sentence on the program. The retention of Joker Phillips crushes the hopes of a program that is on it’s death bed.

UK Football dies next year. 2012 will be uglier than the worst of the Curry years. Sure, The Joke will defeat 3 cupcakes. Charlie Strong and his Cards, however, will run through Joker like a hot knife through butter. Vanderbilt will continue to improve under a Coach who actually knows his job. The only team that UK defeated in the SEC fired their coach and will hire someone better than The Joke.

No more bowl games for UK. It’s back to 40 and 50 point shellackings by UT, UF, LSU, Bama and whoever is fortunate enough to be scheduled on the SECs built in Cupcakes schedule.

It’s up to the fans now. If they attend the games and “support the team,” there will be no incentive for change. However, if they steadfastly refuse to spend their hard earned money to see Kentucky Football fail under The Joke, Barnhart and the Board of Trustees will have no choice but to get rid of The Joke.

I have no faith in the UK Football Fan Base, though. They have shown that they will buy into the program no matter how pathetic a team is fielded. It’s almost a badge of honor to be able to state that “I was there for the worst of the Curry years.” Now they’ll be able to say that they were there through the worst Coach in UK History as well. That’s a hell of a feat for the The Joke. UK has had some terrible coaching.

But this is par for the course for UK Football. Two steps forward, five steps back. This time, UK may not recover. At best, it will take a decade to undo the damage wrought by the Head Coach in Waiting.

If Joker really loved the program as so many say that he does, he’d resign. Unless he’s a moron, he’s a millionaire by now. He’ll never get a better offer as a head coach as he’s failed miserably at UK. He sits out a year or two. Someone will eventually call him up to be an Offensive Coordinator.

There may be smoke to the rumors. It’s all over the net that Joker Phillips will announce that he is leaving UK Football after the Tennessee game this weekend.

The reasons range from his alleged off the field behavior to his incompetence on the field. Personally, I believe that if he is resigning, it’s because he’s being forced out because some of these rumors are true.

Personally, I never thought that he’d work out. I was never impressed with the run of cupcake beatings and wins against down teams such as UL, Vandy and the Mississippi twins to get to a minor Bowl Game. The Infamous Cupcake Strategy of Rich Brooks. I was underwhelmed by it all. Rich Brooks had two decent teams — 2006 and 2007. Both seasons had wins against quality opponents and ended with victories in the Music City Bowl. Every other year was mediocre at best. Those years were the lone “good years” of the Rich Brooks tenure.

Joker bought into the Cupcake Strategy. That said enough about him for me. It was winning by sleight of hand. Joker was made Head Coach in Waiting and went on to be a dismal failure. He could beat the cupcakes. He hasn’t proven that he can beat the lower level SEC schools and UL took him out this year. If he stays, there will be no improvement. Retaining Joker will only delay the inevitable and set UK Football back further. UK Football can not afford to be set back any further.

Hopefully the rumors are true about him resigning. Joker will resign or be forced out and UK can move on. If it does happen, UKAA will need to hit a home run in their hire. Leach. Gruden. Someone who can energize the program. Someone who can build something real rather than attempt to fool UK fans with smoke and mirrors.

If nothing is done this year, look for Commonwealth Stadium to be a cemetery next year. Only the diehard fans who want to support the players will show up for the games. Average attendance will be less than 50,000.

The consensus seems to be that Joker will not resign. It’s either force him out of let him play out his contract. If he’s back next year, it’s going to be ugly.

UK lost to the Vols again yesterday. That makes it 26 years of futility. 26 years of ignominious defeat at the hands of the most despicable programs in the SEC. 26 years of losing to the vile Vols of Knoxville. Doesn’t matter how low the Vols sink. Matters not in how bad of shape that despised program lies. At their best, the Vols have slaughtered UK in Football. At their worst, the Vols have found a way to beat UK. Even in UK Footballs recent “glory” years, the Vols have come in to Commonwealth Stadium and strutted out with a W stamped across their effort. Even in the year 2010 when UT is at it’s lowest point in decades, UK has left Neyland Stadium LOSERS.

UK Football can’t get over the hump. Not with the Coaches they hire. Not with a Coach who has no heart. And that’s what we have. Joker Philips. All talk, no heart.

He was the “Coach in Waiting.” We were told this was for continuity. Well, we got it. Continuity. He’s continued the proud UK Football Tradition of LOSING.

UK Football has made losing to the Vols and art form. They’ve found new and creative ways to lose this game 26 times in a row.

Hell, I wasn’t surprised that they lost. I was just surprised that after a bye week that UK didn’t get blown out. UK Football never emerges from a bye week prepared. It’s the complete opposite. A bye week seems to bring out lethargy and lackadaisical lapses of concentration.

Joker Philips, or as I like to call him, THE JOKE came in talking big. UK was going to turn it around. This was the year that UK Football got over the hump.

Looks more like the year that UK Football lost momentum and slid back down there level with Vandy.

THE JOKE should resign. If the guy had any honor, he’d already have stepped aside.

He won’t do it. So I give him about 4 more years before the UKAA belatedly admits their mistake, fires him and moves on to make their next lackluster hire of a coach who will be fired soon thereafter. The UKAA has no imagination when it comes to football. Always playing to not lose instead of making a play to win. As long as they’re getting those fat checks from the SEC and fans keep filling up those seats to watch mediocre football this will never change.

So much for this being the REAL BOWL GAME of the season. Losers talk if I’ve ever heard it, that was.

So, here’s to eternal mediocrity and the hopeless fools who pay for the privilege of watching it.

GO CATS!!!

When they're 26 or 30 or so, they'll have the same stupified look on their faces. That is IF they are still following the joke that is UK Football.

All of these football people who follow Kentucky have all of these reservations about UK playing Louisville.

All of these Joker apologists have all of these reservations about playing Louisville.

Why?

I thought UK Football had improved so much.

If it had improved so much, UK could and would take any challenge and super it.

Instead we have all of this talk about “is it worth it?” All of these folks admitting that UK could lose a game like this.

Why?

UK has immensely improved in football. Yet, with all of that improvement, it is still flat out MEDIOCRE.

MEDIOCRE

LET ME SAY IT AGAIN…

MEDIOCRE

UK Football is still sitting at roughly 11th place in the SEC and might have gone from a 150 to 200 ranked team to a 90-140 ranked team.

IT’S STILL MEDIOCRE.

I don’t see much to celebrate.

Barely making .500 each year and barely making a Bowl Game.

Still can’t beat Florida. Still can’t beat UT.

BUT HEY! It’s exciting that UK can beat the decent to good SEC Teams when they are having a down year.

UK Football.

It’s a joke.

If there isn’t significant improvement in the Second Year of Joker, I think the guy should be fired. Especially if there is a set back. If UK doesn’t win at least 8 games next season, the Joke should be terminated. Period.

I’m tired of being forced to cheer for 5th Rate Football. I’m equally tired of the perenially lie that UK is coming up. I’m tired of exhortations to believe.

Screw that…show me something. Something.

And I’m not talking about 2nd rate bowls or winning at Tennessee when UT SUCKS!

I can tell you right here and now that this year Kentucky’s bowl game will once again be played in Tennessee.

Knoxville, Tennessee.

The Cats don’t need to be bowl-eligible to play there.

Yes, the Kentucky-Tennessee game on Nov. 27 in Neyland Stadium is the game the Big Blue Nation is truly anticipating.

To be sure, the Cats need to handle matters this Saturday and notch the season’s obligatory sixth triumph by flogging feeble Vanderbilt.

How feeble? The Commodores are last in the SEC in both total offense, total defense and scoring offense. On the bright side, they are 11th in scoring defense.

Last week, in a 55-14 drubbing by visiting Florida, the Commodores punted 12 times. Poor punter Richard Kent — get this man a leg massage — is on pace to break the team record for most punts in a season, a record set last season.

The ‘Dores are converting just 20.7 percent of their third-down opportunities. Next worst among SEC teams in that category is Tennessee. The Volunteers are converting at a 35.6 percent clip.

Need we go on?

How did Vanderbilt beat Ole Miss in Oxford all the way back on Sept. 18?

Houston Nutt, you have some explaining to do.

Joker Phillips will have some explaining to do, too, should the Cats slip Saturday. We shall excuse last Saturday’s near slip. It’s tough for any SEC school to get up for an FCS team, especially one that lost 66-7 to Hawaii. Playing a flat game against a bad FCS team is one thing, being unprepared for an SEC foe — even one by membership only — with something on the line, is another thing.

I find this article to be the height of stupidity. It’s a joke. My opinion is that THE JOKE already has some explaining to do. Like how “Operation Win” turned into Operation Failure with one of the easiest schedules that UK will face for a while.

This was supposed to be a year in which UK graduated to a bigger Bowl picture. Instead, Neyland and the possible defeat of a downtrodden Vols team is THE BOWL GAME of 2010.

WHAT A JOKE!

At least the name fits.

The “Bowl Game” to which UK Football is looking forward is the game at Knoxville?

It’s an admission that UK Football is so bad that they can’t win against a quality opponent. UK must win this year while UT is down or miss it’s chance at breaking that streak.

UK Football is so terrible that they’re looking forward to going down to Neyland Stadium and defeating (or attempting to defeat) the Volunteers. A Tennessee Vol Team in disarray. A UT Football team on it’s 3rd coach in as many season. A team depleted by scholarship reductions, defections and any number of scandals and problems.

That’s how awesome UK Football truly has become under Rich Brookes.

Now! Dont get me wrong. Rich Brooks did an incredible job of pulling UK Football out of the dregs. He took UK Football from the bottom of the SEC to a respectable bottom of the SEC. And that was a HUGE improvement. That’s how terrible UK was. Now, UK is a threat to actually beat the 2nd Tier Teams of the SEC and to occasionally defeat a #1 LSU team. They’ve done it. They defeated UGa two years in a row. They picked off Auburn last year. They finally took out Spurrier and the Cocks this year.

The only problem is that UK has no depth. They lose one or two key players and the year is over. The year that they beat #1 LSU. They went on to lose the next three games. Why? Injuries.

Why can’t UK recruit? I don’t know. They get decent kids. They just never have enough get over the hump and to stay there. Recruiting kills UK.

Now, we’ve got The Joke and Operation Win. No more moral victories. The Failed First Season.

I don’t see anything that’s changed. Some of the UK fans whom I know rave about The Joke. I don’t see it. What UK needs is something to bring in the recruits. Usually, that’s a head coach. I see Joker Philips simply continuing to bring in the same kind of recruits that Brooks brought in. An occasional gem but no depth.

That’s not going to build UK Football into a powerhouse nor is it going to bring UK Football out of the “respectable basement” of the SEC. It’s simply going to maintain the status quo.

Bottom line. I’m not excited about defeating a down in the dumps Tennessee Vol team. Sure, it would be nice to kick the SOBs while their down. It’s just that I’d like to see a Kentucky Football Team that can go into Neyland in a UT Vol Championship year and kick their butts. I’d like to see a Kentucky Football program that is feared in the SEC. Not just a team that the other SEC programs shouldn’t overlook.

Problem is. The UKAA doesn’t want this and UK Football fans don’t know what they want. And if UK Football fans did know what they wanted, they wouldn’t have the necessary courage and fortitude to do anything about it. The sporting world is full of chumps.

If you need any evidence of that: There are still UK Basketball fans who love Tubby TLT Smith. (They’re usually the same stupid SOBs who don’t want to hear anything but positivity about UK Football.)

Undersized Woodyard having a big impact

UK product leads Broncos’ defense

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos were about to go down for the count when rocket-armed quarterback Jay Cutler came to the rescue along with a most unlikely sidekick — an undrafted, undersized and largely unknown rookie linebacker named Wesley Woodyard.

Things looked bleak for the Broncos when D. J. Williams, fresh off signing a $32 million, six-year contract that solidified his standing as Denver’s defensive leader, went down with a knee injury on Nov. 2.

The bungling Broncos were sitting ugly at 4-4 with a three-game losing streak.

Denver, which had already lost strongside linebacker Boss Bailey for the year and would lose middle linebacker Nate Webster the following week, turned to a free agent from the University of Kentucky who is generously listed at 230 pounds and was ignored in the draft because he’s too small.

Or so everybody thought.

During Williams’ absence, the 6-foot-1 Woodyard has had 50 tackles in his five starts on the weak side, leading Denver (8-5) to the brink of a playoff berth.

“I play with about 10 or 20 chips on my shoulder,” Woodyard said. “I’ve always been looked at as a little guy. I’ve always been small since I was little, so I’m used to playing bigger than I really am.”

“I’ll tell you what, the more film you watch … Woodyard keeps on making plays, especially the last couple of weeks,” Delhomme said.

Two weeks ago, Woodyard had 13 tackles, 11 of them solo, and forced a fumble by Brett Favre in Denver’s win over the Jets. Against Kansas City last week, he led the team with eight solo tackles and broke up a pass in another crucial win.

“Wesley’s one of those things you call a diamond in the rough,” teammate Kenny Peterson said. “He’s 200-what?”

Williams is inching his way back to health, and that begs the question: How can the Broncos possibly take Woodyard out of the lineup when Williams returns?

“Yeah, he’s a playmaker,” coach Mike Shanahan said. “We’ll try to keep him out there as much as we can. He’s fun to watch, both on defense and special teams.”

One possibility is keeping Woodyard where he is and moving Williams back to the middle. Woodyard said he’s ready for a reduced role if that’s what it comes to.

“D. J.’s the captain of our defense. You’ve got to give all respect to him. I’m ready to accept my role on the team like I did in the preseason,” Woodyard said.

The way Woodyard sees it, the more depth at his position, the better.

“Once we get D. J. back, we’re going to have a lot more playmakers on our team,” he said. “I’m just going to earn my respect every week from the guys on the team and the guys in the NFL.”

The NFL may be surprised.

There isn’t one person associated with UK Football who is though. Nor is there a fan out there who is surprised by the success of Wesley Woodyard.

My only surprise was when he went un-drafted. Too many scouts relying on internet reports and brand name instead of actually earning their pay. Nothing new there. I suppose that’s not really all that surprising.

Is this a sign of terrible things to come for UK football? Is it the coaches working the kinks out of inexperience? Was it just a momentary stroke of good fortune on the part of MTSU and UK overcame their mistakes to win a ball game.

I’ve been following UK football for a while now. I’ve been talking to UK football fans who have followed the program for years. One recurring theme when it comes to UK football is that every time UK starts to do well, the program self-destructs. Usually probation over recruiting violations. Most often, UK is caught at something comparatively laughable. But instead of fighting the NCAA like UT and Bama and USC, UK cooperates and is burned for their efforts.

USC gets a Reggie Bush and his agents. No problem. Ohio State gets caught paying it’s players thousand. No problem. A teacher comes out and verifies that UT is cheating academically, hell, the teacher gets fired and UT is cleared of any and all cheating.

UK gives a couple of jackets away and is caught writing a grand worth of checks. Probation time.

UK has enjoyed two successful seasons. 8-5 Bowl years. Sounds great. I love it. But I’m still waiting for the other shoe to fall. In some fashion or another.

I hope to god it doesn’t happen. I want the program to be successful. I’d love to Rich Brooks to retire with a BCS Bowl added to his resume.

Coach Brooks and company are making great gains in recruiting. This is hopeful. Signs of a program on the rise. They have beat UL two years in a row. This year they embarrassed the Cards in their own stadium. The Card fans ran out on their team before the 3rd quarter was over. Last year, Brooks had this team roaring. Defeating the #1 LSU in a huge upset. Ranked #8 in the country at one point. Then came 3 losses in a row. The Cats just didn’t have the depth to compete. Not even with Mississippi State. That’s not Brooks fault. That’s Kentucky Football.

Brooks seem to be doing everything right. He’s adding depth and talent. UK finally has a respectable Defense. A first in my memory.

I hope the end of the game is a symbol of persistance and not a sign of things starting to unravel. Kentucky plays in the SEC. If they don’t tighten up, there will be plenty of losses. UF. UGa. UT. Bama. All on the schedule. USC and Spurrier are on the schedule. the Gamecocks might be down. With Spurrier, they are never out.

UK must get at least 3 wins in the SEC. Arkansas, USC, VAndy and Miss. Those are 4 winnable games. UK has to take care of business here. That would be an 8 wins season and a good bowl game.

UT looks beatable this season. But Phat Phil isn’t going to take that last game of the season off. He’ll be ready for UK. That is for certain. In a down year like this one seems to be heading, a loss to UK would be unforgiveable. The Vols might chase him out of Knoxville. Hell, they might put him on the Big Blue Bus and tell him not to come back. So a UT win is going to be a challenge. But not impossible.

Upset one of UF, UGa or Bama.

Well, that’s a lot to hope for…but, if it happened. Oh, if it happened.